After my third injection of radiesse under my eyes, a hard lump formed under my left eye. The doctor said the product had "clumped" and he stuck a needle in it in a couple of places to break up the clump (yes, it hurt!). The lump is gradually flattening out. He thinks I will need a little more fine tuning....I really never expected it to take this long to be done. The only things I've found that help the redness are ibuprofen and witch hazel compresses. Ibuprofen helps with inflammation and witch hazel is an old wives remedy. Just soak cotton pads in witch hazel and put them under your eyes for at least twenty minutes and it will sooth the redness. Also, my doctor said bruising and discoloration can last for up to two months because the under eye area is so sensitive and the bruising is really deep. One last thing...I read that within three months, the volume of the product decreases by two thirds, leaving just the micro-spheres as a skeleton for your own collagen to build on. If that's true, time really will help. I wish you luck.
I got Radiesse for nasolabial fold and for the deep hollow area my eyes. The nasolabial folds took one treatment. At first, I could feel hard ridges from my nose to the corner of my mouth and it looked like I had had something injected. The bruising and swelling lasted for about three weeks but those lines are completely gone and the filler has softened so I can't feel it under my skin. The end result is very natural looking. For under the eyes, my doctor does a series of three injections a couple of weeks apart so that he doesn't over fill the area and can keep fine tuning it over the course of treatment. The first treatment was very alarming because it looked like I had big welts under my eyes and I had one really bad black eye (I bruise easily). After two weeks, it looked better but definitely wasn't the result that I was after. The second injection left me looking just as bad as the first one but as the swelling and bruising subsided, I could see improvement but it still looked a little lumpy. I just had the third injection and I can finally see that the end result will be great. I am guessing that I may need a tiny bit more under one eye. Just like with my nasolabial folds, the filler gets softer and softer over time but starts out feeling and looking like hard ridges. The main things to know before going in is that it is not a "lunch hour" procedure -- plan on laying low for three to five days after your treatment; it takes weeks to heal and to be able to tell what your result is going to be so if you are wanting instant gratification, go with a different product; go to a DOCTOR who specializes in injections; realize that you may have completely different reactions under each eye and it doesn't necessarily mean that the doctor screwed up -- I have one eyes that bruised every time and the other eyes was swollen every time; the gradual filling makes a lot of sense -- I can't imagine how you could get a great result under the eyes doing it all at once; and invest in some dermablend because you are going to need it for a while. Also, besides arnica and ice packs (but be careful with the ice because it can burn your skin), compresses of witch hazel and compresses of camphor oil help speed your recovery as does lots of vitamin C and exercise to help your circulation. For the worst swelling, I took bendryl which also helped. I think it was worth it (I'll know for sure in about a month) but it was psychologically traumatic because it took so long to see what I wanted to see, it was expensive, and it was fairly painful. My best friend thinks I look ten years younger, my husband (who didn't want me to do it) thinks I've never looked better and I am getting compliments from complete strangers on how beautiful my skin is....so even though I don't think I'm quite done (and I am always my worst critic), there must be a marked improvement.
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Posted to Don't Do It! on 26 Sep 2008
Posted to Not Sure Yet..very Nervous About Swelling on 24 Aug 2008
I got Radiesse for nasolabial fold and for the deep hollow area my eyes. The nasolabial folds took one treatment. At first, I could feel hard ridges from my nose to the corner of my mouth and it looked like I had had something injected. The bruising and swelling lasted for about three weeks but those lines are completely gone and the filler has softened so I can't feel it under my skin. The end result is very natural looking. For under the eyes, my doctor does a series of three injections a couple of weeks apart so that he doesn't over fill the area and can keep fine tuning it over the course of treatment. The first treatment was very alarming because it looked like I had big welts under my eyes and I had one really bad black eye (I bruise easily). After two weeks, it looked better but definitely wasn't the result that I was after. The second injection left me looking just as bad as the first one but as the swelling and bruising subsided, I could see improvement but it still looked a little lumpy. I just had the third injection and I can finally see that the end result will be great. I am guessing that I may need a tiny bit more under one eye. Just like with my nasolabial folds, the filler gets softer and softer over time but starts out feeling and looking like hard ridges. The main things to know before going in is that it is not a "lunch hour" procedure -- plan on laying low for three to five days after your treatment; it takes weeks to heal and to be able to tell what your result is going to be so if you are wanting instant gratification, go with a different product; go to a DOCTOR who specializes in injections; realize that you may have completely different reactions under each eye and it doesn't necessarily mean that the doctor screwed up -- I have one eyes that bruised every time and the other eyes was swollen every time; the gradual filling makes a lot of sense -- I can't imagine how you could get a great result under the eyes doing it all at once; and invest in some dermablend because you are going to need it for a while. Also, besides arnica and ice packs (but be careful with the ice because it can burn your skin), compresses of witch hazel and compresses of camphor oil help speed your recovery as does lots of vitamin C and exercise to help your circulation. For the worst swelling, I took bendryl which also helped. I think it was worth it (I'll know for sure in about a month) but it was psychologically traumatic because it took so long to see what I wanted to see, it was expensive, and it was fairly painful. My best friend thinks I look ten years younger, my husband (who didn't want me to do it) thinks I've never looked better and I am getting compliments from complete strangers on how beautiful my skin is....so even though I don't think I'm quite done (and I am always my worst critic), there must be a marked improvement.